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The 10 best accompaniments to beef

Being British comes with certain responsibilities. The ability to treat beef with the care it deserves, being one of the top six. In fact, every year we produce 2 million cows for meat alone, and these wondrous beasts shouldn’t be sacrificed for us to hurl Tesco ketchup on and force in the general direction of our gullets. No, finesse is required. Hence we’ve compiled the 10 most superlative accompaniments to this most stunning of fleshy foods. Agreed? Agreed.

Gravy

Sunday dinner… beef with chips… poured on top of a steak and kidney pie… beef and gravy are entwined forever because of their total and unutterable compatibility. At least one billion British meals would be killed every year without it.

Onions

Too strong for fish and often overbearing even for chicken, the humble onion is as at one with beef as Tina Turner is with hairspray. By our estimation, 97 per cent of all beef dishes have been augmented by this white, multi-layered workhorse and are all the better for it.

Chipotle sauce

Perhaps the least esoteric of beefy sauces and the most versatile, too, this Texan-tinged spicester goes with ribs, burgers, steaks and even left-over cold cuts on a sandwich. Every decent American burger bar has its own secret recipe.

Yorkshire pud

Controversially not at number one because it only really works with one dish, the mighty pancake-gone-‘poof!’ is nonetheless a monumental bedfellow for a roasted joint of beef. Grandma used to make it with dripping, and with good reason.

Pepper sauce

In France, you’ll have to shoot the chef to stop him serving your beef ‘au poivre’, but you really can’t blame him: this oddly delicious blend of pepper, mustard, cream and the criminally-underused peppercorn is sublime.

Green peppers

They just work. On pizzas, in stir-fries – in fact, in no less than 89 recipes on wondrous foodie website Epicurious.com, beef and pepper stand side by side and proud like war veterans marching over a hill.

Mustard

The old faithful. British company Stokes will sell you a posh jar for a couple of quid, but there’s not a lot wrong with Colman’s.

Stilton sauce

An acquired taste for many, but the cheese’s acidic thwack works wonders alongside the robust and bloody broadside you get from Mr Cow’s generous gift.

Peanuts

Chinese people invented fireworks, so they must be clever. More proof here, via the wonder of satay sauce, a delightfully sweet blend of nutty crunch and fire that beef just laps up.